The One With The Two Parties
"The One With The Two Parties" is the twenty-second episode of the second season of Friends, which aired on NBC on May 2, 1996. Plot At Monica's new workplace, the Moondance Diner, the guys discuss Rachel's birthday. Monica wants to throw a classy party, which the guys unanimously disagree to. The invite list is almost made up, but on Rachel's revelation that her parents yelled at each other during her sister's graduation, Monica invites only Rachel's mother to the party. As the party's about to start, Rachel's father shows up unexpectedly. The guys hide him in Rachel's room when Rachel's mother shows up for the party. Phoebe distracts Mrs. Green while the guys take Dr. Green to their apartment, along with streamers from the party. Following their romantic dinner, Rachel is "surprised" to find a party for her, although not as surprised to have two parties - each of which has one of her parents. Monica tries to entertain using writing activities, which the guests find boring. Phoebe keeps sneaking people to Chandler and Joey's party, which seems to be more fun. Monica is angry to find out that people are hating her party. Meanwhile, Ross tries to bond with Rachel's parents, but makes a fool of himself with Rachel's dad and makes Rachel's mum believe that he's identical to her ex-husband in every way, which makes her suggest a therapist to Rachel. Rachel, on the other hand, has other problems on her mind, as she tries to spend time with both her mother and her father but the two find only things to say about each other, which is driving her crazy. Rachel talks to Chandler about this, and Chandler consoles her, first in his arms, then in Ross'. By this time, both parties are at the end, but the guys still have the problem in not making Rachel's mom and dad meet. As Dr. Green leaves Monica's, Joey turns Rachel's mom and kisses her on the lips until Rachel's dad is gone. Mrs. Green slaps Joey lovingly on the cheek, exclaiming how this was the best party she's been to in years. Monica thanks her. The episode closes with a shot on Rachel's birthday flan, which no one seems to really like. When Rachel makes her wish, Chandler yells: "Heads up!" as a volleyball crushes the flan. Rachel comments: "Wow, those things almost never come true!" Cast and Crew Main Cast Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Green Courtney Cox - Monica Geller Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing David Schwimmer - Ross Geller Supporting Cast Marlo Thomas - Sandra Green Ron Leibman - Dr. Leonard Green James Michael Tyler - Gunther Nancy Rubin - Guest Lewis Dix Jr. - Man Crew Directed By: Michael Lembeck Written By: Alexa Junge Trivia General *This is the first appearance of Dr. Green in the series. * Rachel hypotheses that her father will get a condo and her sister will decorate it in wicker. In "The One With Rachel's Other Sister" (S9E8), Rachel's sister Amy mentions she decorated their father's office. * This is the only episode Rachel's parents appear in together. ** Rachel's parents do not share any scenes together at all during the entire series. *Despite Joey telling Ross that he "broke the code" by making out with Chandler's mom in "The One With Mrs. Bing" (S1E11), he kisses Rachel's mom at the end of this episode. It's also true, however, that as the guys are avoiding making her and her ex-husband meet at any cost, this wouldn't count as a genuine gesture on his behalf but only a desperate measure to call for in desperate times. *Ross is shown not to bond very much with Rachel's dad, especially when the former makes a fool of himself when talking and when the latter catches Ross wearing his glasses and holding one of his cigarettes in his mouth. Only in the end of "The One With The Race Car Bed" (S3E7) do the two bond a little - then again by picking on Rachel's flaws. However, the bonding is very temporary and following the episode, Ross and Dr. Green fall back to disliking each other until the end of the series. Goofs * In this episode Rachel's dad smokes, however in other episodes Rachel says her father shouted at her for smoking once, though this could be because he doesn't want her to have his habit. * Gunther wears a wedding ring while talking to Phoebe about leaving Monica's party. * Monica shouts in Joey and Chandler's "Hey, You and you, you are meant to be at my party!!", while Rachel's father was there. However, they didn't want him to know about the other party. Although it is possible that he did not hear Monica over the music. * Several goofs involving the characters arms are shown: ** When Phoebe is planning to get the people out of Monica's party, when she says "There isn't time!" her right arm's position change between shots. ** When Rachel's mom says "You've chosen a boyfriend exactly like your father." her arms change between these shots. ** Later, when Rachel is talking to Chandler, she says "My mom there, my dad there. Thanksgiving, Christmas." the position of her left arm also change between shots. Episode Navigation Category:Friends Category:Season 2 Category:Friends Episodes